I know last week seemed like a good week for me. And in many ways, it was. I got offered what is essentially a dream job, giving tours of the city I love. I started training Friday and Saturday.
For the first time in a long time, I have hope. Hope of having stability while loving every minute of the work I do.
But hope doesn’t change current conditions.
And current conditions are not good.
It’s July 31 and I haven’t paid my July rent yet. And August is now 6 days away from being past due. I’m surprised they haven’t served me with papers saying they’re starting the eviction process.
My AT&T bill is past due. Part of the new job is answering questions and booking tours. I need a working phone to be able to do that.
My Xfinity bill is past due. I need working Internet to do my job – and to continue publishing these daily posts about what’s going on Downtown.
My MLGW bill is past due. Without power, I can’t charge my phone or operate my MacBook.
I’m down to my last roll of toilet paper. I’m down to my last pen. I have enough laundry detergent for maybe 2 more loads.
My bank balance stayed negative for so long that First Horizon closed the account I had for more than 35 years. That’s why I took the Tip Jar links off my posts – there’s nowhere for the money to go. For the same reason, I can’t take Venmo or Cashapp or PayPal. What little royalties I still earn from Medium now have no place to be sent.
I mentioned there was a financial chasm I had to leap over until paychecks start coming in. What I just described above is the chasm.
If I’ve seemed sleepy when you’ve seen me lately, it’s because I lie awake two-thirds of most nights worrying about money.
Friends are making sure I eat regularly. So at least I have that in my favor. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Without that nourishment, I’d never have been able to walk those 16,000 steps Friday.
I was in financial straits this dire once before, back in 2019. At that time I thought the solution was to jump off my 16th-story rooftop. Two feet from the edge, I realized it wasn’t the solution at all.
And I don’t see that as the solution now. I have too many people who love me. And now I have a job I’m excited to go to. I have a ton of reasons to live.
It’s just really scary not knowing what the future holds.
My birthday falls on a Saturday this year. I was gonna request not to be scheduled for work that day. Hopefully I will wake up that morning in the very same bed I woke up in today, get on my MacBook and do a blog post, get on my phone and “Like”/respond to people who left me birthday wishes on Facebook, then walk around the corner to Bardog where I will celebrate with friends… and, of course, continue the celebration at Blind Bear later in the day.
I just have to leap the chasm between here and there.
Thanks for reading. And now, let’s get on to the news…
The Downtown Blue Monkey is once again open on Sundays from noon to 8. One of their Sunday regulars told me that they have a breakfast sandwich all day and that they post their specials to social media.
I did not know until yesterday that there’s a Downtown Memphis meditation community with 792 members on meetup.com.
A grocery tax holiday will be in effect in Tennessee tomorrow through Halloween. However, candy, prepared food, booze, and dietary supplements will still be taxed.
Today is National Avocado Day. I’d recommend celebrating with a Cobb salad at Bardog, which comes with thick slices of avocado.
There was a shooting on B.B. King Blvd. about a block south of Beale last night.
A sinkhole has developed at Second and Madison.
Feels-like temperatures will “only” reach the upper 90s today.
I mentioned that I’ve been reading two books on Memphis by Bill Patton, my tour company’s founder. Several friends of mine have recommended another Memphis book, Beale Street Dynasty by Preston Lauterbach. It’s the story of Robert Church Sr. (1839-1912), the South’s Black millionaire, and of Beale Street of that era.
One of the friends recommending the book told me he was assigned to read it for work – and he works for the Grizzlies.
The U.S. Women’s National Team plays Portugal in the final match of the World Cup group stage at 2 AM tomorrow (Tuesday). A win or a draw advances the USWNT to the knockout stage. If you want to watch the match – the entire match – at a Memphis bar, it’ll have to be on Beale Street. They are the only ones allowed to be open past 3 AM.
The NFL pre-season begins Thursday night as the New York Jets play the Cleveland Browns in the Hall of Fame game.
That’s it for today. Back tomorrow, assuming I have power and Internet access. Again, thanks for reading.